


Basically the only Graceling AU

by pirateship



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: I love graceling so much, LITERALLY, M/M, Minor Violence, Rating May Change, Tags May Change, graceling AU, no fandom i'm in have graceling fics, why are there never fics?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-11-09
Packaged: 2018-08-23 11:33:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8326216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pirateship/pseuds/pirateship
Summary: Kei was good at his job. He didn't like his job, but he was good at it.Killing for a Lord seemed like a good alternative from hanging by the neck until dead. Though when he's tasked with training new army recruits while trying to uncover a huge conspiracy with the help of someone truly annoying, he wonders if he made the correct decision. Will Kei's heart finally open up, and will he survive long enough to be happy? He hopes so (though he'll never admit to being happy, it goes against his image).





	1. Prologue

A couple century ago lived a woman of legend. Her name was Katsa, niece of King Randa of the Middluns. She was feared most of her young life due to her ability to kill any man, including King Leck of Monsea. However, when the kingdoms learned of how the seemingly innocent and kind king was actually a monster (not literally, of course, no matter how much he wished to be one) who was able to manipulate nearly anyone with functioning ears due to his hidden Grace—a king who tortured small animals, including girls whom he also repeatedly raped, before killing them slowly, Katsa’s legacy as a ruthless killer transformed into that of a somewhat-less-ruthless killer who saved the kingdoms from what was sure to be tragedy. What haunted Katsa was that she did not kill the beast for what he had done but simply because he was about to reveal a close friend’s secret.

Soon word spread of her and her Council that helped overthrow corrupt powers. Word spread of how she was not Graced with killing, but rather survival. Word spread of Katsa’s passing through Grella’s Pass (with a small Princess Bitterblue!), a journey survived by none, save her. Word spread of Katsa’s defiance against her own king uncle. Word spread of Katsa.

Seventy-five years ago, awhile after Katsa’a passing and Queen Bitterblue’s passing came a man who was tired of the tyranny from the kings that thought they could do whatever and enslave whoever simply because of their status. He raised an army comprised of men—and women—from each of the seven kingdoms. The army was large and starting from the Middluns, it conquered all the surrounding lands, spreading outward, but left the Dells hidden on the other side of a nearly impassable mountain range alone. That was not his concern. Once Lienid, the last of the kingdoms fell to his forces, people from all over elected him to oversee the workings of the unified land—now split into seven states rather than kingdoms, and he helped to elect seven Lords to oversee each state. This man’s name was Haruichi Furudate, and the seven kingdoms was renamed Haikyuu, after one of Furudate’s heroes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, your piece of shit author here who took almost a month writing a chapter.  
> I'd promise not to let it happen again but no promises. Between schooling and pokemon moon releasing in nine--NINE!!!-days,I'll be pretty busy, but I'll still try to work on this between classes.
> 
> Shout-out to my wonderful Beta, Jordan, who just so happens to allow me to be her girlfriend. Thank you for finding all my tense errors. Love you <3

Kei was good at his job. He didn’t like his job, but he was good at it. People equated his abilities to those of the famous Katsa who lived centuries ago. And it was true, up until the effort/caring part. Katsa wanted to make Haikyuu a better place and worked to punish wrongdoers after escaping the control of her uncle. In Kei’s perspective, if people were in a shitty situation, it was their job to unstick themselves, not his. Simply put, Kei did not give a damn.

That didn’t mean he did nothing though. Since the young age of seven, he’s been serving the state’s lord until his sentence is over in another two years. At least he got paid—not as much as he would if he were doing this voluntarily, but still a decent amount. When he was done serving, he’d have enough to move out of the state and live elsewhere—hopefully a place that didn’t know of him, however unlikely he will be to find such a place. Lord Sawamura, ruler of the Karasuno state, a generous leader, but he came with a temperament that even intimidated Kei.

Currently, Kei was preparing to train some new Graced recruits of the Karasuno branch of the army with the help of some veteran soldiers, Graced and Ungraced alike. They all bothered the fuck out of Kei, but so did most people he encountered. In order of most annoying recruit to least: Tobio Kageyama _< one eye blue like the sky at dusk, the other blue as the clearest day. Graced with combat, armed and unarmed. Most bothersome person Kei has met up to this point in life>_, Shouyou Hinata _< one eye orange like the fruit, the other black as the darkest cave. Graced with baking of all things. Kei believed he belonged in the kitchen, but the army’s policy was to turn down no one over 12 and since he was Graced, be was placed with Kei>_, Tadashi Yamaguchi _< one eye mossy green, the other earthy brown. Graced with archery. Former childhood friend of Kei, though they haven’t spoken since Kei killed his first>_, and Hitoka Yachi _< eyes blood red and pale violet. Graced with tactics and strategies>_. This list of annoying did _not_ include the other trainers. If Kei kept a list of every bothersome person he met, the list would never end.

Kei leveled his gold and green eyes at each trainee and found himself more irritated with Kageyama when he held his gaze. Most people were afraid to be in the same room as Kei “Vicious Killer” Tsukishima, and none held his gaze other than his older brother, Akiteru and Lord Sawamura.

“Alright,” Kei said with a deep sigh, ready for the day to be over already, “I guess we should get started. Firstly, as you all know, I’m—Tanaka, stop making faces—I’m Kei Tsukishima and will be leading your training sessions when I’m around. These four,” Kei waved his hand lazily behind him, “will help you train and they will be your sparring partners. Introduce yourselves.”

“Hey!” Pest #1 yelled, “Ryunnosuke Tanaka. Ungraced mentor of the army. I specialize in unarmed combat but I know my way around a sword. My preference in girls-”

“Next.” Kei said forcibly enough to get him to shut his mouth.

“Yuu Nishinoya!” Pest #2 chimed in, “Graced with speed and agility.” Noya was prepared to banter further but just one look from Kei effectively shut him up, but there was a large smile still present on his face. He enjoys agitating people. It’s a wonder Kei hasn’t “accidently” broke one of his bones in sparring.

“I’m Asahi Azumane,” with a tremor in his voice, the largest man in the room spoke. Kei has yet to understand how someone so large and intimidating is so cowardly—fits his Grace though, “I can camouflage myself in any surrounding.”

Last to introduce himself was the one Kei could somewhat actually handle being around without wanting to sleep for eighteen hours afterward. With a big smile, the gray haired man spoke, “Koushi Sugawara is my name, but just call me Suga. I don’t have a Grace but I’m pretty skilled all around.” Suga was being modest. He was asked to be the army’s commander numerous times, but declined in order to help train recruits. His skills in combat and tactics could rival a Gracelings.

“Alright, since we all know each other’s names, let’s move on to actually training. You should all know your way around the grounds from your introductory tour.” Each trainee nodded. “So, run. Around the castle four times for your warm up. And don’t even think about trying to run less. Each of your mentors will be at one of the corners, so you won’t be able to take any short cut through the buildings. I’ll be here for when you’re finished or when you give up. Word of advice: don’t give up.”

Kei turned around and started setting up a dummy to practice with after his exhausting speech. None of the trainees moved while each of the mentors went to take a spot.

After a deep sigh to collect himself, Kei turned back around, “Now.” They ran like hell after that, Yachi even squeaked a bit in fear. _Good_.

Finally in silence, Kei took his time taking careful aim and threw three knives at once into the dummy in front of him. A knife landed in the skull, heart, and throat each. This was too easy. Maybe he should try throwing them blindfolded sometime, maybe then it’ll be a challenge.

With nothing to entertain him, Kei sat and leaned against a wall, letting his mind wander. Unfortunately, it wandered to the past. To the day his life changed.

_“Tsukki!” Yamaguchi called as he ran down the hill, fear in his voice. Yamaguchi was being chased down the hill by this kid nearly twice his size, who just so happened to be Kei’s neighbor. Kei figured he had nothing better to do in his life besides torment those around him._

_Neither his nor Yamaguchi’s Graces had presented itself, which was odd, but not uncommon. Some Graces weren’t revealed until later in life due to the lack of necessity. A Graceling with the ability to hold their breath underwater for an unnaturally long time wouldn’t know until he or she was submerged underwater for an unnaturally long time. He and Yamaguchi just haven’t had to use their Graces yet._

_Yamaguchi finally reached Kei and hid behind the others tall frame, peeking out from behind. The jerk chasing him was quick to follow. If Kei would have seen the knife earlier, he probably wouldn’t have talked like he did._

_“Hey wimps,” The jerk said. Kei felt somewhat guilty that he could never remember this bully’s name. He looked at Kei, “Move aside freak, I’m only here for your friend.”_

_Kei looked up at this boy, but even tilting his upward, he was able to put on a face of absolute disgust and arrogance, “Pathetic.”_

_“What did you call me, freak?”_

_“Would you look at that, Yamaguchi,” Kei said to his friend, intentionally provoking the other boy, “He doesn’t understand the meaning of ‘pathetic’.”_

_If Kei saw the knife before, he probably wouldn’t have riled the bully up as much as he had._

_He still can’t recall what happened entirely. It was all a blur. One moment, he saw a glint of silver. The next, the boy’s arm in snapped in half and Kei was holding a knife deep in his throat, feeling the warmness of his blood leak down his arm._

_There was so much_ blood. _Kei would later learn that he plunged the knife into something the medics called the carotid artery. He bled out almost instantly._

Kei still remembers Yamaguchi screams. He still remembers the way his parents cried when the state’s guards came. They made him choose: serve the lord or hang by the neck until dead. Murder wasn’t pardoned for any reason, no matter the age of the killer. They would either work or hang. Kei was only seven and he didn’t want to die.

Kei was lounging on the ground in the training room, eyes closed, yet his mind was completely alert even though it wandered. After a while of laying in silence, he heard footsteps approach the entrance; the recruits couldn’t have finished their laps yet—the mentor at the first checkpoint hasn’t come back yet—and those definitely weren’t Noya’s feet coming closer. Kei didn’t recognize the pattern of the steps, so the unknown subject couldn’t be anyone in Karasuno’s army, though they were definitely the steps of someone trained in fighting and stealth.

Kei reached to his boot to pull out one of his many hidden daggers and hid it in his arms as he feigned sleep, waiting forever whoever was there to make a move against him or to leave when they saw who “slumbered” in the room. However, neither occurred. When Kei heard archery targets being pulled out of where they were stored, he dropped his act to see who he might have to kill.

Kei didn’t recognize this man. From his position on the ground, he could tell he was approximately the same height as him, but Kei was still slightly taller. He was clearly from the Nekoma state if the gold decorating his hands and ears were any indication. Those who lived in Nekoma never really dropped the old Lienid tradition of gold-wearing. Rings for each member of a person’s immediate family along with various loops and holes through the ears. Mystery man’s hair was an absolute mess: mostly laying normal with bits and pieces sticking in the air and half of the front of his face was covered to the eyebrows with hair that laid pressed down. He was Graced, from what Kei could tell. One eye was a black that matched his pupil, the other as white as the rest of his eye, causing him to have a disturbing look. Through the way he moved his body walking around and pulling out targets, Kei could tell he was muscular, much more so than himself. For someone renowned to be a ruthless killer, Kei didn’t have much muscle mass—he just knew how to use his body. He dressed lazily, sleeves rolled up to elbows revealing a tanned skin, evidence of many days spent in the sun. Kei was unable to tell what he did for a living.

Just as the Nekoman was readying himself to loose an arrow, Kei spoke up, causing him squeal and completely miss his target; he was obviously not Graced with archery or mind reading, “Who are you?”

“I should be asking you the same question,” he drawled in response, staring Kei right in the eye, annoying him further.

“I trust you know exactly who I am. Plus, you came into _my_ training room. I have the right to know who you are. Not the other way around.”

“Sheesh. Fine.” _Oh. This guy really annoyed Kei._ “My name is Tetsurou Kuroo. I reign from Nekoma. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Kei Tsukishima.” So he did know who Kei was, yet he acted so ignorantly.

“Why are you here?” Kei demanded.

“I’m here by order of my state’s lord and Lord Sawamura to help you train _your_ recruits?” Kei hadn’t heard of that shocking development. He knew that Karasuno and Nekoma’s armies trained together sometimes, but this is the first he’d heard of Tetsurou Kuroo. He truly believed that Sawamura would have informed him rather than send Kuroo himself to deliver the news. Picking up on Kei’s disbelief, Kuroo provided, “He was going to tell you this morning, but insisted I did the honors.” Kuroo winked— _winked_ —at Kei who just stared at him unamused. “But seriously, though. You can go ask him now if need be. Or wait until Sugawara gets back; he knows.”

“Sugawara knows?” And Kei thought he could trust the gray haired man, but it seemed he was fooled. Though knowing Suga, he probably thought it would be a pleasant surprise. How wrong he was.

“Yep, I asked him to keep it a secret so I could surprise you. Everyone loves surprises!” The worst part of all of this, in Kei’s opinion, was how sincere Kuroo was being. He wholeheartedly believed that being surprised with a stranger he'd have to work with for god knows how long would make Kei happy, which was an outstanding notion to anyone who had heard stories of the man.

Kei didn’t have a response. This black haired Graceling was everything Kei was not used to. Only his brother acted as if Kei was an actual human being who got excited over things like surprises and felt _emotions_. With nothing to say, Kei just sighed deeply and willed for the day to be over quickly.

Instead of the peace he so much desired, Nishinoya instead came bounding in the room at what would be an unthinkable speed for anyone who was not Noya, meaning the last of the recruits passed him for the last time. Rather than speak, Kei just looked at him until he gave his short report.

“Wow, I’m surprised Kageyama and Hinata aren’t here yet. They’ll be here soon, I bet. Anyway,” He leveled his gaze to Kei’s ear (to make it seem like eye contact without _actually_ having to make it) and with a deviant grin that seemed ever-present, he began his summary, “So, Kageyama and Hinata were way ahead of the other two, neck and neck really. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were childhood rivals or something. So much intensity between the two. Anyway, they’re probably two wall lengths ahead of Yamaguchi and two and a half ahead of Yachi. It’s not surprising she’s the slowest because of her height and gender. _Not_ saying girls can’t kick ass—have you _seen_ Kiyoko—but she’s untrained and doesn’t know how to use her body.”

Kei simply nodded in response and that was enough for Nishinoya. That was good information for him to have; he could use Kageyama and Hinata’s rivalry as a way to urge them to do better. Yachi was going to need physical improvements, but her Grace would surely help in the heat of battle to see her enemy’s weak points and to anticipate their moves. Kei wasn’t sure on what to think of Yamaguchi. He hadn’t seen him since he was practically half his height, and while Kei was still taller (only a few inches now) he had no idea of what Tadashi was capable of. He was obviously a skilled archer, so he’d probably try to train him best for the arching division.

As if only now noticing Kuroo, Noya pointed over his shoulder with his thumb, “Who’s this asshat?”

Kei opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted ( _Oh how bad Kei wanted to knife him_ ), “Tetsurou Kuroo. I’ll be working with you from now on.”

“Neat. Say, what’s your Grace?”

Kuroo was about to answer until the first recruit finally made it back into the training hall. To Kei and Noya’s surprise, Yamaguchi jogged his way in, breath heavy and sweat making his shirt cling to his chest and hair slick back when he ran a hand through it. He seemed just as surprised when he saw he was first. Surely, Kageyama and Hinata were somewhere. Without needing to be told, Nishinoya sped out of the room in search of them. A few short moments later, he sped back in. Apparently, they got so caught up in competing they didn’t realize they were finished.

Soon Yachi came through the doors, followed by the rest of the mentors, then finally the two buffoons who couldn’t stop glaring at each other. Kei knew they’d end up fucking.

Seeing the way Sugawara interacted with Kuroo cleared some of the suspicions he had about the other man. Kuroo was obviously meant to be there, though that didn’t mean that Kei had to trust him...or be _friends_ with him.

It didn’t take much for Kei to gather the attention of everyone in the room. All he had to do was straighten his posture and everyone quieted down and turned their focus to him. He glanced at Kuroo, who thankfully got the hint to introduce himself to the rest of the group.

“Hey all. My name is Testurou Kuroo and I’ll be helping Kei here,” _Did he seriously just call him by his first name?_ “With your training. If it’s not obvious from my stunning appearance, I’m from Nekoma, the capital actually, and I’m also Graced. I can see it in your eyes,” _He really needed to get to the point. Geez._ “You’re asking yourself: I wonder what this handsome man’s Grace is? Well, today is your lu--” Kei let out his deepest sigh of the day, prompting Kuroo to just get on with it, Kuroo cleared his throat, “Precognition. And let me tell you; I’ve seen a pretty terrifying future for all of us.”

Everyone, including Kei, looked at him with various levels of curiosity. What did he mean by terrifying? Like, the kitchen giving them food poisoning, terrifying? Or mass uprising leading to the end of humanity as they knew it, terrifying?

Kuroo’s face split into the widest, shit-eating grin Kei has seen to date and loudly whispered, “We’re stuck training with Kei and he’s going to kick our asses often.”

Before Kuroo knew what had happened, he was face down in the dirt, arm wretched behind him and foot on his lower back. Unable to move, he painfully chuckled out a “Told you so.” Sugawara, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Hinata laughed helping Kei figure out who he was going to hurt next. Instead, he steadied himself mentally and released Kuroo who groaned in response to his muscles loosening back up.

Kei turned back to the trainees and grinned, effectively making each of them shiver in fear. “Since the archery targets are already set up, We’ll start with that.”

After a bit of direction from the other mentors, each trainee had a bow and quiver of fifteen arrows and was lined up in front of their own target. Kei set up a game of sorts. Each ring outside of the bullseye they shot into was a more intense punishment consisting of various exercises. Land on the outer two or miss the target completely, they’d have to spar a round with Kei. Yamaguchi, being Graced with archery, had been given a badly strung bow and poorly crafted arrows to work with. “Even out the playing field.” According to Sugawara. It didn’t do much, though. Every single arrow Yamaguchi let loose hit dead center of the target, splitting the previous straight down the middle. Kei was honestly impressed; he had never seen anyone hit targets with such accuracy, even Graced with a perfect bow. The others...not so much. In the end, Kei had to spar with Kageyama twice, Yachi four times, and Hinata eight times. This Nishinoya and Tanaka angrily accused him of going too hard on Yachi, but the truth was he barely tired with any of them and he didn’t feel it necessary to point out that their enemies wouldn’t go easy on her simply because she was a female.

Hinata’s overall badness surprised him though. For someone so intent on joining the army, he sucked. Only two of his arrows didn’t end up in some sort of punishment, and Kei knew that they were lucky shots. It was evident that Hinata would not pursue archery in his future, but it was still Kei’s job to make him proficient enough so he could at least kill someone or something if he needed to. Though it was fun to beat him up a bit. They're just lucky Kei was kind enough to hold back.

After the somewhat short day of training, Kei was ready to wrap up and have some time to himself, but just as he was leaving Sugawara spoke up and told him Sawamura wanted to meet with him that night. Wondering who Kei was going to have to kill or assist, Kei slowly made his way to the conference room Sawamura spent most of his time in. Sugawara trailed behind him, unsurprisingly due, to the fact that he and Sawamura were engaged to be married. For awhile now, same sex couples have been more accepted in the lands, though many still disliked the idea. Kei couldn't care less--it'd be pretty hypocritical if he did.

Entering the conference room, Kei registered a few things. First, it was being set up for a feast, meaning Kei would have to dress up and act _nice_ to various people. _Ugh._ Second, Kuroo was there talking with Sawamura and laughing quite loudly and annoyingly. Third, if Kuroo was there that meant he was telling the truth about himself and Kei didn't get to kill him. He was pretty disappointed.

Noticing his entrance, Sawamura walked over, kissed Sugawara’s cheek and addressed Tsukishima, “I’m glad you came.” He said it in a way like implied that Kei had a choice whether to show up or not. Kei simply nodded in response, signaling the Lord to continue speaking. “I need you to travel north to Seijoh. There’s a minor lord of ours who seeked refuge there after attempting to steal a considerable amount of gold from our vaults. Bring him back. Or kill him. Whichever is easier.” Kei knew that Sawamura disliked giving out the death sentence, but trying to steal from the kingdom’s vault was considered treason. The perpetrator would be hung by the neck if he came back, so it didn’t really matter if Kei killed him or brought him back--he’d be dead anyway.

“Yes, My Lord,” Kei said with a bow, earning him a sharp slap on the back from Sawamura.

“How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Daichi. And enough with the bowing.” Kei nodded, “And another thing. Take Kuroo along with you; get to know him a little.”

Kei thought that the mission couldn’t get any worse. Having to travel a week on horseback each way was no fun at all, but throwing in an annoyance to slow him down and expect conversation made the impending trip that much worse. Kei nodded again and gave a slight bow (just to irk Sawamura a bit) and turned to make his way out of the room.

“There’s a feast tonight!” Sugawara called after him. “Don’t miss it!”

Kei raised his hand to acknowledge he was spoken to as he exited through the door, already dreading the night, and week, that was to come.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for any kudos, comments, bookmarks, etc.   
> All are appreciated!
> 
>  
> 
> Based off: Graceling trilogy  
>  Written by: Kristin Cashore


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